Many SEOs will recommend that your business have a blog for the many benefits that it will provide, such as improving SEO and helping you to connect with your audience. But what if you already have a blog and it’s getting no attention? The content is there, but it appears to be gathering dust and […]

Many SEOs will recommend that your business have a blog for the many benefits that it will provide, such as improving SEO and helping you to connect with your audience.

But what if you already have a blog and it’s getting no attention? The content is there, but it appears to be gathering dust and not readers.

As someone who has worked for a professional SEO company for over three years now, and has been a blogger for more than seven, I’ll shed some light on a few of the reasons that your blog isn’t being read.

You’re blogging about yourself.

If you want to spend time typing up a storm about your products or services and business, then start a company news blog or write a press release. The truth is that most of your audience doesn’t want to read this stuff.

Your content is incredibly important and will have a significant impact on your ability to build relationships with your audience. Nothing will turn readers away faster than a blog that is really just an extended advertisement.

Your blog should provide value to readers so that you can turn them into customers. You want to create content that matters to them, so try to find topics that are interesting and informative.

You can write well, but your content has no personality.

You know how to spell and your grammar skills are stellar. Awesome. But your content is bone dry and has no life to it.

Keep in mind that you’re writing a blog post, not a college thesis paper. Write conversationally, share a personal story, offer your own tips or create a how-to piece.

Your content really needs to spark. Get creative! Write something that will jump out at your readers and keep them interested. Devote time to gathering content ideas from coworkers, online forums and websites, or consider using an idea generation tool.

You’re publishing inconsistently.

You wrote a blog post, published it and sparked the interest of readers. Great. When will you publish the next one? Not sure when you can get around to it? Plan to publish one a day? Well, in either instance, that’s a problem.

You need to be consistent with publishing.

Your audience will only come back if there’s new content available for them to read. To help yourself keep track, consider setting up a publishing schedule to follow. However, don’t go overboard by publishing blog content on a daily basis. While fresh content drives website traffic and improves your keyword rankings, your blog posts won’t receive as much attention if new material won’t stay at the top of your blog for more than a day.

No one can find your blog.

If no one can find your blog, how do you expect them to read it? First, make sure your blog is optimized — this will make it more visible online and bring readers your way (it also helps with keyword rankings). The more optimized content you produce, the more chances you have to be found by search engines. Also, add a visible blog icon on the homepage of your site, and post your blog’s URL on your social media platforms.

What are some other ways that you can help capture the interest of blog readers?

]]>http://www.webimax.com/blog/blogging-tips/no-one-reading-blog/feed0Guest Blogging (The Right Way) for Backlinkshttp://www.webimax.com/blog/blog/guest-blogging-the-right-way-for-backlinks
http://www.webimax.com/blog/blog/guest-blogging-the-right-way-for-backlinks#respondMon, 30 Sep 2013 14:50:09 +0000http://www.webimax.com/?p=7717Guest Blogging (The Right Way) for Backlinks was originally posted on the WebiMax SEO Blog

Google’s recent Penguin Update redefined the basics of SEO link building. Prior to the update, sites linking to yours weren’t an issue. However, with guest posting becoming increasingly popular and more and more people engaging in it, link spamming has increased and Google has jumped on it, penalizing sites with unnatural links in posts. Now, […]

Google’s recent Penguin Update redefined the basics of SEO link building. Prior to the update, sites linking to yours weren’t an issue. However, with guest posting becoming increasingly popular and more and more people engaging in it, link spamming has increased and Google has jumped on it, penalizing sites with unnatural links in posts. Now, SEOs and webmasters are hurrying to find ways to fix the link issue and prevent their sites from being hit.

Google refers to the unnatural linking in guest posts as link schemes and defines them as follows:

“Any links intended to manipulate PageRank or a site’s ranking in Google search results may be considered part of a link scheme and a violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. This includes any behavior that manipulates links to your site or outgoing links from your site.”

While we recognize that businesses selling links and sites building spammy link profiles are practicing bad SEO and applaud the Penguin Update for penalizing them, what about those of us who are just looking to guest blog — you know, those interested in creating well-written and relevant content that will be posted on another site?

It’s not the end of guest blogging
Don’t be discouraged! Guest posts can still be a useful and legitimate way to get your content hosted on another site with a backlink, expose your content to the online community, and even connect with other bloggers. In short, Guest blogging can still go a long way in your link building efforts. Google doesn’t want to do away with guest blogging — it just wants to make sure that you’re following the best linking practices.

A guest blog shouldn’t just be a few hundred words stuffed together without any clear purpose or understanding of the subject matter, with a link or two shoved in seemingly at random. The most important factor in a guest blog is relevancy. That goes for both content and links.

Guest blogging best practicesHere are some important guidelines that you can follow to ensure that your guest post doesn’t get hit by Penguin:

Post to sites that are relevant to the industry you are writing about. Avoid over-diversified sites.

Avoid posting to low-quality blogs or websites (the site should have a strong domain authority).

Don’t use exact-match anchor text and make sure it looks natural — use long tail words or a call-to-action phrase.

The page you link to should be relevant to the hyperlinked phrase.

Don’t post to blog networks or article directories.

Make sure your title is unique (type it into Google to ensure that it hasn’t been used).

Tools to help you spot and remove bad linksWhether Penguin sent you a warning about your links or you want to check and ensure that they are safe, Open Site Explorer and Majestic SEO are two of the most effective free link tools for analyzing backlink profiles.

]]>http://www.webimax.com/blog/blog/guest-blogging-the-right-way-for-backlinks/feed0What Do Football and SEO Have in Common?http://www.webimax.com/blog/seo/what-do-football-and-seo-have-in-common
http://www.webimax.com/blog/seo/what-do-football-and-seo-have-in-common#commentsTue, 10 Sep 2013 17:06:20 +0000http://www.webimax.com/?p=7583What Do Football and SEO Have in Common? was originally posted on the WebiMax SEO Blog

With football season now in full swing, everyone is wearing their favorite team jersey, talking up their team’s success, and undoubtedly expecting big wins and accomplishments for their team. What makes this American sport a favorite among many is that there is always something brewing. From drafts and trades, to injuries and outstanding plays and […]

With football season now in full swing, everyone is wearing their favorite team jersey, talking up their team’s success, and undoubtedly expecting big wins and accomplishments for their team. What makes this American sport a favorite among many is that there is always something brewing. From drafts and trades, to injuries and outstanding plays and performances, football season certainly doesn’t go unnoticed. Even fantasy football has become an increasingly popular pastime – and football fans are serious about their team picks. So, what do football and SEO have in common?

If you work in SEO, your main goal is to make it to the top. Well, the same can be said about football. But, they have more in common than just winning. It’s also about perfecting a winning strategy.

Have a strategy

To win anything, you need a game plan. Like designing a play in order to score a touchdown, you need to put together a strategy to help your website make its way to the top. Do you have the right set of tactics for your marketing efforts? Are you able to measure, track and adjust your tactics?

Know your competitor

This is one of the most important points in your game plan. Just like knowing the current standing of an opposing football team, where does your competitor stand in the SERPs? What is your ranking in comparison to theirs? If they are higher than you in the Google standings, what actions are you going to take to move above them? How do they promote a similar product or service, and how can you promote yours better?

Work as a team

Just like a coach needs his team to execute a play, you need a team of online marketers to work together to help you reach your goal. From developers to link builders, content writers and social media marketers, it’s important that you are all aware of the strategy for a successful play.

Be willing to improve

No one ever made it anywhere by sticking to the same routine. If a game plan has failed, why continue to run the same plays? The same theory can be applied to SEO campaigns. If you want to make it to the top of the SERPs, you can’t always stick to the same strategy – you need to discover and find new and better ways to get to the top.

Play by the rules

While football players have referees and whistles, marketers have Google algorithms. You have guidelines to play by to ensure that you play fair. It’s crucial that you play by Google’s rules and make it to the top without performing black hat techniques. A skilled and experienced SEO company will go about winning the right way.

Get noticed

In football and SEO, you don’t want to just win, you want to get noticed. Press releases, articles, blogs and social media are all intricate parts of putting your business in the spotlight. When an SEO campaign works properly, you’ll feel the need to celebrate like a receiver who just snagged a touchdown for the victory.

]]>http://www.webimax.com/blog/seo/what-do-football-and-seo-have-in-common/feed1Simplify and Improve the Optimization Process – Use a Search Operatorhttp://www.webimax.com/blog/search-engine/simplify-and-improve-the-optimization-process-use-a-search-operator
http://www.webimax.com/blog/search-engine/simplify-and-improve-the-optimization-process-use-a-search-operator#commentsWed, 07 Aug 2013 17:04:29 +0000http://www.webimax.com/?p=7210Simplify and Improve the Optimization Process – Use a Search Operator was originally posted on the WebiMax SEO Blog

If you’ve ever typed something into the search bar, you already know that Google, although a very powerful search engine, can also be a fickle beast. If you work in SEO, you’re well aware of the importance of keywords. But, typing in the keyword alone in the search engine may not be enough. You may […]

If you’ve ever typed something into the search bar, you already know that Google, although a very powerful search engine, can also be a fickle beast.

If you work in SEO, you’re well aware of the importance of keywords. But, typing in the keyword alone in the search engine may not be enough. You may wind up with inaccurate results. Now what?

To help modify and better define your search, you should use a search operator. Search operators are like instructions: they join keywords in order to form a more accurate search and help pinpoint what you’re searching for. Because they provide you with a more exact search, they help you cut down on search time.

Search operators are highly useful for SEO professionals as they help you find relevant data for optimization purposes, aid in the link building process, and are beneficial for site auditing.

Below is a list of search operators and how they can benefit your SEO efforts:

SEO-oriented Search Operators

Search Operator

Definition

Example

How it Helps

inurl:/allinurl:

Search for pages with the keyword in the URL.

inurl:college degrees online

Displays webpages where your terms appear in the URL.

With this search operator, you can get an idea of how many URLs in Google’s index there are for pages on the web about that topic. You can find competitors with optimized URLs for specific keywords that you are trying to rank for.You can also find out what sites that your competitors are linking to and reach out to those sites asking for a link as well.You can also use this search operator to find guest blogging opportunities, whether you’re looking for a writer or a site to contribute to. In either instance, it’s a great way to get a link out. Example:
Inurl:guest “college degrees online”Additionally, you can use this search operator to determine if a site is indexed by Google. If the site is indexed, it will appear in the search results. If it’s not indexed, then it will not show in the results. Example: allinurl:www.site.com

intitle:/allintitle

Find sites that contain a specific word in the page title.

intitle:college.

Find competitors with optimized titles for particular keywords

This search operator refines your search to the title tag of the page. You can find how many pages are indexed by Google with that keyword. You can use this to search for pages that use your keyword in the title and use it for link prospecting for guest blogs.

intext:/allintext:

Search for sites with the keywords in the body text.

intext:education

Find competitors with optimized content containing keywords you are trying to rank for.

This search operator is highly useful as it pulls up webpages that contain the keyword in the beginning of the text. Using this, you can find competitors who are also trying to rank for certain keywords. You can specify if they are trying to rank for long-tail keywords, short-tail keywords, or both. This is also useful for brand management purposes as it can pull up negative content about a company or website.

inanchor:/allinanchor:

Search for pages with keyword(s) in the anchor text.

colleges inanchor:online

Find existing sites with certain keywords and phrases in the anchor text.

Using the above example, this search query restricts the Google results and displays webpages with links that contain the word “used” and the webpage contains the word “cars.” You can use this operator to determine how many links there are in Google’s index that use certain keywords in the anchor text for links to pages. You can use it to conduct a competitive analysis and see who’s linking to other sites with that anchor text.

Advanced Search Operators

Search Operator

Definition

Example

How it Helps

cache:

Find Google’s cached version of a website rather than the current version.

cache:URL

View the latest version of the page acquired by spiders. Also view the dates of visits and the content that is no longer live on a site.

info:
(Id: is an alias for this)

Find information about a site.

info:URL

Retrieve information about the site including links to pages that link to the webpage.

filetype:
Ext: (alternative to filetype:)

Search for a particular file format.

IRS tax forms filetype:pdf

Find a wider view of content available online.

This search operator allows you to specify the type of file you’re looking for. For example, you can search PDF documents, Flash files and Microsoft Office documents. This not only provides you with more quality results if you’re looking for sources to link to in content, but you can determine if your competitor is using any of these documents.

link:

Find external websites that link to a particular URL.

link:mysite.com

Find
pages that are pointing to the particular URL.

With this search operator, you can find all the pages in the Google results that link to that specified URL. You can determine the number and quality of links to competitor sites, and reach out to ask for a link as well. You can also find relevant sites that don’t link to your competitor’s site, in which you can reach out to the site for a link. If the site they are linking to is no longer available, you can contact them and offer a site that they can link to, creating a backlink.

site:

Find pages on a specific domain.

site:webimax.com “keyword”/td>

Determine what pages are indexed by Google.

This search operator returns the number of indexed pages for the specified domain. With this, you can find out which pages on a site are indexed by Google, and which ones need to be optimized.You can also place a keyword before or after the search operator to determine the keyword density within all of the indexed pages for that specific keyword. With this, you can find out how many pages your competitor has indexed for a keyword, and you can create and optimize more pages on your site.Additionally, you can use this search operator to search for content on different domains rather than sites. For example:site:www.college.edu computer operating systems
site:edu computer operating systems

daterange:

Find “new” pages in Google within a particular timeframe.

daterange:startdate-enddate

Find pages that are more current and updated.

This search operator allows you to refine your search according to a date range. This not only help you find current pages to link to, but when you scrape URL for link building purposes, you can keep your results current and avoid old threads.

*Note: You must enter the dates as Julian dates (Julian dates are the number of days since noon universal time on January 1, 4713 BCE.)

Basic Search Operators

Search Operator

Definition

Example

How it Helps

” ”
(quotations)

Search for an exact phrase.

“SEO companies'”

Tells Google to search specifically for content containing the keyword phrase. Helps you find places to internally link on your website and find relevant sites to post content in order to obtain a backlink to your site.

*
(asterisk)

A wildcard character used to find documents containing part of a word.This can include a single term or phrase.

college *

Find other words and phrases that may be relevant to your search term.

This search operator is used as a root search in which the results will contain webpages that begin with the root of the word. This helps you find other keywords or phrases that online audiences and competitors are using. Also, this helps you save time as you can avoid writing long statements or other phrases to search with.

number ..number

Find results with numbers within a given range such as dates, prices and measurements.

Mega Millions 250,000 .. 2012

Allows you to specifically target a product.

related:

Find sites similar to a specific URL.

related:nytimes.com

To use as a media outlet to find other sites that are similar to what you’ve been using to post content and links.

This search operator is highly beneficial for competitor and backlink research. You can simply type in the name of your website and search your competitors. Also, you can use this to search notable news websites and other sources to contribute content and get a backlink, or to link to and create an external link.

define:

Find the definition of a particular word or phrase.

define: online marketing

Gather links to websites associated with the term.

Boolean Operators

Search Operator

Definition

Example

How it Helps

AND

Combine terms and search for documents with all of the terms.Note: AND must be capitalized when used.
Google enables this operator by default.

dogs AND dating

Helps narrow your search.

This search operator helps you narrow your search by pulling up sites that contain all of the search terms, helping to make your search more specific. You can also use this search operator for reputation monitoring to determine what people are saying about your company online. Simply type in the name of your company AND the keyword phrase.

OR

Search for sites that contain at least one of the specific keywords.Note: OR must be capitalized when used or Google will treat it as a term to search.

college OR university

Helps fine-tune your search and yield more effective results.

This search operator helps expand your search and pulls up sites that contain any of the search terms.

You can use this to find other terms that competitors are using, as well as relevant sites to get a backlink.

NOT

Excludes sites that contain a specific word.Note: NOT must be capitalized when used or Google will treat it as a term to search.

colleges NOT universities

Decreases search time by eliminating undesirable sites.

To cut down on search time, this search operator pulls up sites with the keywords you want included and excludes sites that contain a certain keyword. This is useful to find out what terms competitors are not using, which you can then target.

Proximity Operators

Search Operator

Definition

Example

How it Helps

AROUND

Find words or phrases near each other.Note: AROUND must be capitalized when used or Google will treat it as a term to search.

Andy Reid AROUND Chip Kelly

Specifies the proximity in which the search terms appear in the results, yielding more specific results.

This search operator helps you get very specific as it lets you specify the maximum number of words that separate your search terms. This search will include words that are in close proximity to each other. This is useful when looking for a combination of search terms and you want to know the relationship between the two.

NEAR

Pulls pages with the words near each other.Note: NEAR must be capitalized when used or Google will treat it as a term to search.

This search operator finds records in which the search terms are within 16 terms of each other. This is useful for long tail terms and phrases, as well as geo-specific keywords.

Time Operators

Search Operator

Definition

Example

How it Helps

time:

Find the time in a particular location.

Time: Mount Laurel

Location Operators

Search Operator

Definition

Example

How it Helps

location:
(only in news search)

Filter your search according to a location.

location: New Jersey

Find out current events taking place in a particular location.

region:

Find sites that belong to a particular region.

region: USA

Find relevant sites to place content about a specific region

Miscellaneous Operators

Search Operator

Definition

Example

stocks:

Find market data about a particular company.

stocks: Apple

movie:

Find movie-related information.

movie: Forrest Gump

map:

Find a map of a particular location.
Type in the name of the location or the zip code.

map: New Jersey

sunrise:
&
sunset:

See the precise times of sunrise and sunset in a certain location.

sunrise: New Jersey
sunset: New Jersey

News Operators

Search Operator

Definition

Example

How it Helps

source:

Find articles in news sources regarding the selected keyword.

Election source: New York Times

Find newsy and relevant sites to link to.

inpostauthor:

Filter your search according to an author’s name.

inpostauthor:”name”

Use to find guest blogging opportunities or find a particular author.

This search operator allows you to search for guest blogging opportunities, which is a great way to get a backlink, and you can also search for specific authors. You can also use it to track blogs and other online publications.

Search Operators No Longer Supported By Google

In an effort to help make searches more precise, Google has dropped the search operators below.

Search Operator

Definition

Example

How it Helps

author:

Search for articles by a specific author. You can search by full name or partial name, or by email address.

author:John Smith

See what newsy and notable content you can link to.

+
(plus character)

Make sure the words are included in every result and ensure the results contained the exact spelling of the word

animals + farm

Yields more accurate search results.

~
(tilde)

Includes synonyms for the search term in the search results.

~ocean city vacation

Useful for determining additional keywords

While the tilde has been dropped completely (due to lack of use), the author search operator and plus sign (+) have been replaced. The author search operator has been replaced with the authorship link, rel=author. The plus sign has been replaced with an expanded functionality of the quotation marks operator.

Staying on top of your optimization efforts and keeping an eye on competition is a must in online marketing. By using the combination of keywords and search operators, you can boost your marketing success.

]]>http://www.webimax.com/blog/search-engine/simplify-and-improve-the-optimization-process-use-a-search-operator/feed15 Power Words You Should Use in Your Contenthttp://www.webimax.com/blog/content/5-power-words-you-should-use-in-your-content
http://www.webimax.com/blog/content/5-power-words-you-should-use-in-your-content#respondThu, 27 Jun 2013 13:16:37 +0000http://www.webimax.com/?p=70495 Power Words You Should Use in Your Content was originally posted on the WebiMax SEO Blog

While common phrases like “Think before you speak” may be embedded in our minds because that’s something our parents told us when we were younger, as we grow older, we tend to finally appreciate how powerful words can be. Words are like hooks. They have the power to encourage or discourage, lift up or bring […]

While common phrases like “Think before you speak” may be embedded in our minds because that’s something our parents told us when we were younger, as we grow older, we tend to finally appreciate how powerful words can be.

Words are like hooks. They have the power to encourage or discourage, lift up or bring down. In the world of SEO, words are especially significant because they give brands a voice.

“How can I make my article stand out?”
“How can I get more readers to my blog?”“How do I make my website more appealing?”

Those are common questions clients ask, and the answer is the same for each: create content that will not only grab the attention of your readers, but also elicit a response from them. Get your readers excited about the product or service and encourage them to act upon their excitement by buying the product or service. And, believe it or not, you don’t have to use big, fancy words to do this.

Below are five powerful (yet common) words you should use in your content to make it more attention-grabbing and motivate your readers to act:

You – What better way to personalize the content and make it about your reader than using the word “you”? Not only are you talking to your readers, but remember that people are interested in fulfilling their own wants and needs; give it to them. They’ll love you for it.

Because – You can write about a product or service all you want, but no one will act unless you tell them the reason why they should. Give your readers a justification to buy your product or service. Explain to them the benefits and personal advantages they can gain from it.

Now – You don’t want your readers to act later – you want them to act now. Create urgency for your audience to act immediately. This will not only engage them in what you’re writing, but will more likely get them to buy something, since you’re less likely to have to rely on them remembering your services or product.

Proven – This word is especially powerful when it comes to advertising a new product. Customers are weary of new products, and they want to know what others have said about the product first. By giving assurance that your product is something that has been tested and proven to work, you’re providing them with the peace of mind that it’s worth the investment. Also, keep in mind that in the online world many people test quality. Provide the facts to back up the benefits and advantages and give them the proven data for support.

Easy – Who wants to do anything the hard way? Explain to them how easy it is to use the product or service. Tell them about how hassle-free it is to either use or have provided for them. People love anything that is simple and fast, whether it’s a do-it-yourself project or they have to rely on a professional for service.

Other useful tips to successfully integrate power words into your content:

-Place a power word in the title or headline
-Use them in the beginning of a sentence
-Don’t overdo it. While you want to encourage them to act, you also don’t want to sound like an advertisement.

Over the years mobile communication has drastically changed. What started as a simple hand-held mobile phone that offered a limited amount of time to talk, but the ability to be used wherever, has significantly expanded in functionality and design. Today, with their small, compact size and various technologies and features, cell phones have not only […]

Over the years mobile communication has drastically changed. What started as a simple hand-held mobile phone that offered a limited amount of time to talk, but the ability to be used wherever, has significantly expanded in functionality and design. Today, with their small, compact size and various technologies and features, cell phones have not only captured the interest of people everywhere, but have become an integrated part of the lives of many. From texting to sending emails, browsing the internet to playing games, people have become heavily dependent on cell phones.

The silence during dinner is no longer because someone decided to spill the beans about your father’s surprise birthday party. Rather, it’s because everyone has their hands, eyes and attention glued to their cell phone, whether updating their Facebook status, posting a new tweet, sharing a picture of the birthday cake or checking out the restaurant’s website.

While this may cause a delay in the waiter cutting the cake, passing the utensils and serving coffee, mobile technology is the perfect opportunity for the business to reach their audience. While users update their Facebook status, they can find a restaurant’s Facebook page, follow the restaurant on Twitter, share photos on Pinterest, and browse a business’s mobile site to learn more about the restaurant.

If you’re interested in creating a mobile site to help you reach your audience, there are many factors to keep in mind.

Keep the layout simple – While you may want to create a unique layout for your audience, remember that the site is built for a cell phone. Users want fast and convenient access to your site and easy navigation.

Ensure your load time is prompt – All too often mobile users experience frustration because a site took too long to load on their phone. This results in users leaving your site and a potential loss in a customer.

Avoid flashy and heavy graphics – Flashy and heavy graphics can make accessibility throughout the site difficult. Instead, focus attention on creating quality content.

Add your social media sites – Social media sites are heavily popular today. To help you build brand awareness and socialize, add your social media sites for users to conveniently click and connect.

Allow your mobile site to work on various types of phones – While smart phones may dominate cell phone users, remember that not everyone owns a smart phone. You should create a site that works on various types of phone to ensure you don’t miss out on a potential customer.

The popularity of blogging continues to grow with countless new blogs created each year and massive spikes of traffic making its way to blogs. Businesses have also recognized the many benefits that a blog provides their business. A blog allows businesses to easily and quickly reach a large online audience. Blogs not only help generate […]

The popularity of blogging continues to grow with countless new blogs created each year and massive spikes of traffic making its way to blogs. Businesses have also recognized the many benefits that a blog provides their business. A blog allows businesses to easily and quickly reach a large online audience. Blogs not only help generate traffic, but also give a business more online exposure and increase a business’s credibility. Also, online audiences favor blog content because it delivers a more personal message to readers in which readers feel connected and valued.

Great blog content is what heavily attracts online audiences. Through blogs, businesses can provide information and their thoughts on their latest product or service, and inform readers about the latest news in the industry or their business. However, while business may produce stellar content, there are other important elements that a blog should consist of to make it stand out. While blogging is nothing new, competition is still alive and fierce with businesses trying to capture the interest of online audiences.

If you want your business blog to stand out, here are three things your blog needs:

About us page
What if, after reading your blog, audiences want to learn more about your business? Unless you write a blog post discussing your business, audiences won’t learn about your business. To help readers learn about your business, your blog should include an “About us” page. You can discuss when your business was created, your company’s mission, and step into some detail about what your business does, and your products and/or services. Another page you may want to include is a “Contact us” page should readers have any questions or want to learn more.

Comments section
Nothing turns away online readers easier than the inability to voice their opinion or comment on a blog post. Allowing online audiences to comment helps them feel appreciated and valued. Also, don’t just let comments sit there; respond back to them. If you end up receiving a myriad of comments, in order to respond to all, create a blog post that answers their questions and responds to their comments.

Social media engagement
In order to give your blog more online exposure and help online audiences become more familiar with your business, make sure your blog has your social media sites on it that readers can easily click on and be directed to your social media sites. Also, be sure your posts have share buttons so that readers can share your posts via social media.

As the Democratic National Convention begins with the Republican National Convention finished, social media will continue to keep people from across the country tuned in on the action. Regardless of what political party you support, with the use of social media those from all angles of the political spectrum can catch all the action, cast […]

As the Democratic National Convention begins with the Republican National Convention finished, social media will continue to keep people from across the country tuned in on the action. Regardless of what political party you support, with the use of social media those from all angles of the political spectrum can catch all the action, cast their opinion on speakers, reflect on current issues, and show support for their party.

Since social media took center stage in the 2008 Presidential election, it has become a viable means of connecting voters with candidates. Social media sites help improve campaign engagement by sparking online interest. This year, a sharp use of Twitter and YouTube during the RNC occurred, with an already expected high use of these sites to follow during the DNC.

Within the RNC’s three-day long period, over 4 million tweets posted with 14,743 tweets popping up per minute. This is a drastic increase in comparison to the 2008 convention, in which only a mere 360,000 tweets were tweeted during the two week timespan of both conventions. This year’s trends included the official GOP hashtag of #GOP2012 with the hashtag #RNC also highly used. While the DNC occurs, users can expect to see the official Democratic hashtag of #DNC2012, as well as #DNC to trend. While listening to speakers, Twitter users can reflect on speeches, argue their points on issues discussed, and you can expect to see a lot of quotes by Presidential candidates and speakers.

YouTube pages are especially hot spots for social media users to watch and stay tuned in on convention activities. This year’s RNC saw more than 2.5 million YouTube views, with over 300,000 hours of video streaming, and a view time of more than 30 minutes. In addition to listening to speakers, YouTube offers infographics and social data to keep online audiences informed of the latest numbers.

Regardless of what social media site you’re on, you can expect the conventions to be a highlight, especially with the 2012 Presidential election rolling around the corner.

Social media sites have become increasingly hot platforms for people everywhere to cast their voice. Whether giving a review of a new restaurant or sharing the latest celebrity gossip, social media sites bring people together to converse and exchange thoughts. And, they’re also the perfect place for businesses to hear the voice of customers. Customers […]

Social media sites have become increasingly hot platforms for people everywhere to cast their voice. Whether giving a review of a new restaurant or sharing the latest celebrity gossip, social media sites bring people together to converse and exchange thoughts. And, they’re also the perfect place for businesses to hear the voice of customers.

Customers are the backbone of any business. If your customers aren’t happy, then you lose them, and your business ultimately tumbles. Social media sites are not only a place for people to share their thoughts, but a place for businesses to hear what their customers are saying.

Customers like to post on social media sites because they can openly and comfortably share their views and opinions on a product, service or company. Customers don’t have to wait in line or be left on hold on a phone to voice their views. Also, customers want to know that they aren’t just another person – they want to know that they are a valued customer. Through social media sites businesses can learn of what customers are saying and provide feedback quickly. Many businesses will rant about how customers matter. But as the common expression goes, “actions speak louder than words.” Believe it or not, one tweet holds a lot of value to customers. Social media sites provide customers with the attention from businesses that they want.

Social media is also an opportune way for businesses to build and maintain relationships with customers. Businesses can share the latest industry-related news and ask customers questions to obtain feedback. Also, businesses can reach a large audience fast on social media sites, and compete with other businesses to gain customers. Additionally, businesses can share content, links, videos and pictures on social media sites, and social media sites are easy to use.

Over the years mobile communication has drastically changed. What started as a simple hand-held mobile phone that offered a limited amount of time to talk, but the ability to be used wherever, has significantly expanded in functionality and design. Today, with their small, compact size and various technologies and features, cell phones have not only […]

Over the years mobile communication has drastically changed. What started as a simple hand-held mobile phone that offered a limited amount of time to talk, but the ability to be used wherever, has significantly expanded in functionality and design. Today, with their small, compact size and various technologies and features, cell phones have not only captured the interest of people everywhere, but have become an integrated part of the lives of many. From texting to sending emails, browsing the internet to playing games, people have become heavily dependent on cell phones.

The silence during dinner is no longer because someone decided to spill the beans about your father’s surprise birthday party. Rather, it’s because everyone has their hands, eyes and attention glued to their cell phone, whether updating their Facebook status, posting a new tweet, sharing a picture of the birthday cake or checking out the restaurant’s website.

While this may cause a delay in the waiter cutting the cake, passing the utensils and serving coffee, mobile technology is the perfect opportunity for the business to reach their audience. While users update their Facebook status, they can find a restaurant’s Facebook page, follow the restaurant on Twitter, share photos on Pinterest, and browse a business’s mobile site to learn more about the restaurant.

If you’re interested in creating a mobile site to help you reach your audience, there are many factors to keep in mind.

Keep the layout simple – While you may want to create a unique layout for your audience, remember that the site is built for a cell phone. Users want fast and convenient access to your site and easy navigation.

Ensure your load time is prompt – All too often mobile users experience frustration because a site took too long to load on their phone. This results in users leaving your site and a potential loss in a customer.

Avoid flashy and heavy graphics – Flashy and heavy graphics can make accessibility throughout the site difficult. Instead, focus attention on creating quality content.

Add your social media sites – Social media sites are heavily popular today. To help you build brand awareness and socialize, add your social media sites for users to conveniently click and connect.

Allow your mobile site to work on various types of phones – While smart phones may dominate cell phone users, remember that not everyone owns a smart phone. You should create a site that works on various types of phone to ensure you don’t miss out on a potential customer.